


The gift of sleeping

by VanessaWolfie



Series: Where Stiles hides, Derek finds him [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 03B, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hurt Derek, M/M, Panic Attacks, brief reference to past torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 01:21:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3155534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanessaWolfie/pseuds/VanessaWolfie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek is locked in a cage, trying to escape the pain and humiliation when he smells it. More people. Five of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A rescue

**Author's Note:**

> Here the story continues and I plan on chapters in this work. I've already finished the second one and started on the third. Not sure how many they will be, but not that much, since I'm leaving my computer soon. For those who skipped the last part in the series, because of triggering or unwanted material, it's perfectly okay to just come in here. If you think it might still be triggering, is the torture is referenced, then check the end notes to see more sp0iler-y warnings.

The moments when Derek can escape the pain long enough to think, he‘s grateful. If the demon is busy with him, then he isn‘t killing anybody else. Derek can bear down and scream, sob and shake with pain if it keeps the demon from taking more victims. His skin has been burned, then healed, cut then healed and he doesn‘t understand how his voice still works enough for him to scream. His wolf stopped howling some time ago, gave up and curled itself up deep inside Derek. His healing is getting worse and Derek knows it can‘t go on like this.

“He’s pleading, Derek. It’s pathetic; the lengths you people are willing to go to defend others. Yuck!”

Derek grinds his teeth and doesn’t respond. In the past few hours…Days? He has learned to keep his thoughts to himself. If he responds, the demon will only use his words against him.

“Oh, it looks like you _can_ teach an old dog how to sit.”

He sees the demon smirk and it then, that he notices another scent in the loft. Not one, but five. Scott, Allison, Isaac, Aiden and Ethan.

He tries to hold the tension in his body that has been steadily building since the demon arrived. He can’t show the demon they’re there until they make their moves.

He knows he can’t move on his own even if someone opens the cage. He can be of no help to them except to keep quiet about their presence.

It’s the only reason he manages to snarl at it. He stopped doing it long ago, because of the laughter. He didn’t need to help it laugh. It’s a horrible sound.

It’s what echoes through the loft now. “See, just a good old dog. Maybe we should make you crawl around.”

Derek shivers and shudders and tries to move away from the sword he sees it lift up, but he doesn’t need to, because as the demon focuses on him, walks towards him, Allison shoots him with an arrow.

It has instantaneous effect and Derek can’t help the relieved whimper that escapes him as the demon collapses on the floor in front of him, sword slipping out of its hand.

Then they move. Scott and Isaac get to the cage immediately, while Aiden and Ethen go crouch over the body of Stiles, of the nogitsune.

“We’re going to get you out of that Derek, just, hold on. Allison!” Scott yells, and Derek can’t help but shiver and retreat from their side of the cage.

Isaac holds out a hand to Scott to silence him and starts talking in a gentle tone that Derek has never heard from the boy. “Derek, you’re going to be okay now. We’re taking Stiles--”

Derek growls then. That thing is not Stiles. “It’s not Stiles. That thing is not Stiles.”

“No, of course not, sorry Derek. We’re taking the nogitsune to Deaton and he will get it out. Away, gone. Then we’ll have Stiles back, doesn’t that sound good?” Isaac keeps talking in this gentle tone and Derek gets what he’s doing; he’s staving off the panic attack Derek would probably work his way into if they just burst into his cage. “Allison is going to open the cage now and it’s going to be okay. Can you get out of the cage by yourself?”

Derek tries to clear his mind, which is a little hazy from healing. He thinks that maybe he can get out of the cage himself. It’s for the best anyway, because there isn’t enough room for two people in the cage, so they’d have to drag him out and Derek is not sure how he’d respond to that.

“I can get out myself, but I don’t think I can walk.” He admits and tries not to gag at the thought of his feet. They haven’t healed all the way and Derek knows he still has a big gash on his thigh, one of the latest cuts.

“We’ll figure that out. First, I just want to get you out of there.” Isaac keeps focusing just on him, letting Scott and the twins worry about looking for more threats.

Derek crawls out, knowing it’s easier in the cage. He’s a little cold and he knows it’s because all of his energy goes into healing.

“There you go. I think you don’t really want to be here any longer, so we’re taking both of you straight to Deaton. Scott and the twins will drive with Stiles, which means I’ll be driving your car, any idea where the keys are?”

“In a bowl by the door.”

Derek knows he should try to stand up, or try to be more self-aware, because he’s not even watching the twins, or Stiles’ body, which could awake any minute as the nogitsune and get Derek right back in the cage. He starts to shake at that thought and grabs his knees and tucks them quickly under his chin, trying to escape into himself. It didn’t hurt that much when he wasn’t present of mind.

He knows he must have zoned out a little, because he next feels Isaac sitting at his back, pressing up against him, without hurting him, without holding him, just staying. He breathes in air and it feels like a relief, like maybe he didn’t do that for a while there. Isaac is calmly saying his name; more like he’s singing a lullaby, than calling Derek back to the present.

“Allison is getting the car warmed up; you’re so cold. Scott is getting some clothes from your room. We’re just going to stay right here. The twins are already gone with Stiles.”

It’s like Isaac knows all of Derek’s fears. All of his thoughts. It makes him think about how vulnerable he is, how he must be showing too much; everything.

Scott returns with sweatpants, a soft sweater and some socks. Derek drags the socks on and thanks every god and deity in existence that they don’t hurt as badly as he thought. Then he slides the pants and sweater on, all without leaving Isaac’s embrace for more than necessary. A part of him wants to stay right here, because moving is going to be embarrassing and painful.

It turns out they thought the twins and Allison enough to drive Stiles, so both Scott and Isaac are left to take Derek. When he has clothes on, they get on either side of him and prepare to lift up. Derek feels them both flatten their palms against his sides and push gently, and lift under his arms. He also feels them drag his pain out, but he doesn’t bother telling them not to, it feels too good.

Then they get him on his feet and their pain-sucking doesn’t cut it anymore. Derek still feels the thump from his feet and straight to every other muscle and nerve in his body as he steps down. They get him through 10 astounding steps before Scott stops. He looks over at Isaac over Derek’s head and they seem to come to some silent agreement.

“Derek, we can’t go to the car like this. We won’t. You’re in too much pain.” Scott sounds so concerned that Derek wants to scoff, desperately wants to. He can’t though, because damn if he doesn’t want them to take all the pain away. He’s endured much worse than this in his life, many times, but he’s been hurt for so long now, under the hand of the nogitsune that he really just wants to soak up all the pain-free time he can get.

“I’m going to carry you on my back. Piggy-back style.” Isaac says before letting Derek go and stepping in front of him. Derek gets a hold of his shoulders and tugs himself up. Isaac grabs his feet and continues to leech the pain out.

Somehow, they all make it over to Deaton’s, without the nogitsune waking up and with Derek in much less pain and a little warmer.

Deaton checks to see if the nogitsune is still out, injects him with something and then they just leave him there on an examination table.

Then he turns to Derek and orders everybody out. Isaac has been holding on to his arm ever since he let him sink down into a chair in the vet’s office and he doesn’t let go at Deaton’s order. He just looks at Derek with a pointed eyebrow. He seems to have gained some of his attitude as Derek got better, not as serious, but he still doesn’t let go off Derek.

“Derek, I need to know what happened to you, so I can help you in the most efficient way. Do you mind Isaac staying?”

Derek thinks that over. Isaac has already seen him down low, torn up, scared and shivering in a cage. Derek just feels comfort by having him there.

He knows, objectively, that when he bit Isaac, he would have pulled out his own fingernails rather than let Isaac see him so vulnerable, but he’s grown up a lot over the years. He’s also worn down by the past few months. The nogitsune has been affecting them for so long, with pain, chaos and just corrupting their image of Stiles. While they know now that it wasn’t him, it was _horrible_ to witness Stiles’ body doing all those things.

“I don’t mind, but you can leave if it gets to be too much,” Derek replies, pointing the last part to Isaac, who just nods and steps half a step closer.

Deaton just looks at Derek silently prompting him to start retelling the horror.

“It drove a big kitchen knife into my body at various places and sliced through a lot of tissue. That’s all healed now, but it drained me, so I fainted. When I woke up, I was mostly healed, but locked in the cage. Then I saw it had irons in a fire. It burned me with them all over, but its favourite place seemed to be the soles of my feet, they’re still hurting. It sliced me with a sword a couple of times too after I was put in the cage.”

Deaton nods and then asks if he knows how long the demon had him. Derek thinks it over, he really has no idea, but he knows his healing power would have recovered sooner if it was just 10 hours or something, so he just shakes his head.

“It was around 40 hours. Some of that you seem to have been unconscious, but still, torture for that long will put a damper on your healing. I’m going to give you a tea that will help with the pain and healing, but you also need to eat something.”

Deaton disappears for a minute, probably setting up a kettle and digging around for a banana for Derek.

As Derek begins to slowly eat, Deaton fixes him with a serious look.

“I’m sorry for asking this, but it matters for the method of healing. Did your wolf submit to him? Did you?”

“Not him, it. It’s not Stiles. And yes, I did, because I knew I could not hurt the body which it had taken. I couldn’t hurt Stiles.”

“No one expected you to. But submitting to pain and torture makes it slower to heal. Your body gets the sense that it _shouldn’t_ heal, but with the right herbs and if you take it slow enough for the next few days, with a lot of pack contact. Your strength is going to come slowly this time.”

Derek isn’t surprised. It goes against their nature to submit to pain if it’s not from an Alpha’s hand. Their bodies are trained to heal slowly from pain like that and the last 40 hours have been unlike everything Derek has ever been through. Plus the fire, the burns, they’re meant to heal slowly. Fire can kill. Derek knows all about that.

He takes a deep breath, leans a little into Isaac and makes a decision.

“Can we stay with Stiles, be there when he wakes up?”

Because Derek knows he can’t let that boy wake up on his own. He needs to be there to convince him it’s all okay.

Deaton looks at him a little surprised, but shakes it off soon enough and nods to the table with Stiles. “You still need to rest, so I suggest getting some comfortable chairs in here.”

Deaton leaves to brew the tea and the pack comes inside instead. The twins take one look at the room, go out again and come back with chairs. The first one is put right next to Stiles’ head and Isaac swings Derek into it, not letting him walk on his hurting soles. Then the rest of the pack gathers around, everyone laying a hand on some part of Stiles, as if to heal him. Derek thinks of it more as an anchor, like they’re just slowly leading him away from the darkness and to them.

He settles into his chair, into Isaac’s hand that seems to never leave him and rests. He has one hand on Stiles’ own and he feels sleep beckon him. He knows he sleeps a little before he feels Isaac nudge him and a tea cup is placed in front of him. He drinks and lets sleep take him again. He doesn’t dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I refrence the torture, but in less graphic descriptions and almost without emotion, Derek only has to describe his injuries to Deaton, how he got them and such, but it's a much briefer part than in the last part. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this one a little bit, the most hopeful one to count. Posting the next chapter tomorrow.


	2. Without threats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Derek feels like maybe, he’s going to get a years’ worth of sleep in just a few days._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I need to warn any for this chapter. It's almost fluffy. Almost.

He wakes slowly and promptly realizes how weird that is. He hears a lot of thumping heartbeats around him, some going a little fast, but he zones in on one in particular. One that seems to be edging toward consciousness as well.

Stiles.

Derek sits up and quickly notices everybody else is awake and staring intently at Stiles. Who wakes up like he’s been shocked. Everybody moves back a little, releasing their hold, but quickly settle back close to him. Stiles doesn’t have eyes for any of them it seems. He just stares. First at the wall in front of him, then at Derek’s hand. Derek never lets go. From there, his eyes trail over Derek’s hand, which he probably notices that has a little less color than normal. When he finally locks eyes with Derek, it’s like a house is lifted off Derek’s shoulders, he relaxes so much. Because those eyes, they carry Stiles – and nothing else. It’s that, more than anything else that makes Derek completely break down. He loses control of his limbs and slumps forward so his head is in Stiles’ lap, where he’s sitting on the bench.

He knows all the pack is watching them, but he doesn’t care. Stiles is safe, the demon is gone and Derek is alive and healing. Life hasn’t been this kind to Derek in years.

Stiles is leaning over him, like he’s trying to make them into one piece of the puzzle, so no one forces them to work against each other ever again. He whispers platitudes into Derek’s ear, “we’re okay, its okay,” but Derek knows he’s just as surprised at that outcome. That they can be okay.

He hears everyone pass them, murmuring, “So glad you’re okay Stiles,” and “Happy to see you back,” and “I’m going to hug you, later,” and leave the room. It leaves them alone, but it also _leaves them alone_.

Derek can’t help but tense a little, because this is the first time since they rescued him that Isaac has left his side. That he’s been alone with Stiles.

He raises his head slowly from Stiles’ lap and looks up into those eyes again, to drive away his panic. There’s no need to panic when it’s just Stiles.

Derek is preparing to settle back into his chair, put some space between them, maybe they need to talk, but all he gets for his trouble is a lap full of Stiles.

“Can I just stay here for a little while and just think about how we’re both alive. I don’t want to think about anything else now.”

It’s a quiet admission and Derek knows it means Stiles hasn’t really let himself think about what the nogitsune did in his body. Which is good for now. Maybe they can just rest.

Somehow, they manage to sleep, manage to slip off, curled up together and both hearts beating, with nothing else inhabiting their bodies. Derek feels like maybe, he’s going to get a years’ worth of sleep in just a few days. He thinks that he wouldn’t mind that. Especially if it means he gets to do it with Stiles. Without threats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter up tomorrow hopefully.


	3. Pack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek decides that here is where he can leave his past behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This does not envolve the brief mentions of torture, it should almost be rated teen and up and it's as close as I can get here to fluff. Hope you like.

Derek wakes when Isaac nudges him gently. “Deaton says you guys need a bed to sleep in. I think he just wants you out of here.”

That’s when Derek notices he’s sitting in a chair with a lapful of sleeping Stiles. He moves to stand up slowly, not wanting to rouse Stiles, but promptly falls back to the chair when his feet touch the ground.

He looks up at Isaac with a frustrated look. “Can you drive us,-” Derek stops because he realizes he has no idea where they should go. Derek won’t go to the loft again. Not after all that has happened there now, he just, he _can’t_.

“We already talked about it, me and Scott, you guys are coming to his place and sleeping in the guest room. We’re going to stay together now. Like a pack. The girls are taking Scott’s bed and Scott and I, Aiden and Ethan are staying on mattresses somewhere.”

Derek doesn’t know what to say. He decides to just be grateful that someone else is taking care of things now.

“Deaton says we can’t move Stiles while he’s sleeping. He’s been waking up in new places, without remembering how he got there for some time now, all under the control of the nogitsune. If we do that now, he will think it has him again.”

Derek knows it’s right, that Stiles would just wake up terrified if they moved him sleeping to Scott’s home, but he doesn’t want him to wake up. His heart is beating steadily for the first time in months and it makes Derek feel good. Safe.

Reluctantly, he tries to carefully stir Stiles awake. He moves him gently and whispers in his ear, “Time to get up Stiles. We need to get you to a bed.”

After a little while, Stiles opens his eyes and then he strokes over Derek’s hair, his neck and says, “It’s really you this time. I haven’t. I’m just me.”

Derek almost laughs a little, because it makes no sense, except for the saddest kind in their case.

“It’s me, but me also wants to move to a bed somewhere. Maybe where we can both fit without something poking my sides.”

In the car, Stiles turns a little more serious, looking at Derek with a pained expression.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you when it took you. I’m sorry I was so weak.”

Derek shivers, because maybe he thought this would be hard, but this also feels too soon. Still, he grabs Stiles’ hands and brings them to his face. He lets one land on his cheek, just holding it gently, but the other he slides down to his throat, arching his neck a little so that the hands fits perfectly.

“You don’t have to be sorry. I knew it wasn’t you and I don’t remember it as being something that happened to me because of you. It happened because I was trying to protect the pack, the others from this and while it was focused on me, at least it didn’t hurt anyone else. You weren’t weak and you have to believe that. Just as I have to believe it didn’t get me because I was weak.”

Stiles looks like he wants to argue, but Derek takes a chance and scoots closer, trying to convince Stiles it’s okay. He doesn’t allow himself to think, just leans over and kisses him. It’s slow and soft, because they’ve had enough of rough for a whole lifetime. When they break apart, they both whine a little.

“Why now?” Stiles asks, a little out of breath.

Derek looks at him for a little while before answering.

“Because now we can finally put the past behind us. I’m not the same person you met those years ago in the woods and you’re not the same person I met. This is the first time since I met you that we’re on the same side, but nothing seems to be against us. Because it makes sense to do it now.”

Stiles just looks at him, like he still wants to apologize for everything the demon did to Derek’s body, but Derek won’t hear it now. He’s left that behind. He’s moving on.

It turns out that maybe he doesn’t have to explain it to Stiles any more. Because Stiles keeps his apologies to himself and just reaches over and kisses Derek’s cheek.

When Isaac parks the car in the driveway of the McCall house, Stiles whispers. “I can live with that.” and Derek smiles.

They somehow make it inside and there is the pack. Lydia, Allison, Scott, Aiden and Ethan. They enjoy dinner together and everybody stays together. In the end, they all fall asleep in and around the couch watching a movie, but in the night everybody relocates to a softer surface.

Derek can’t walk on his own yet, but he can walk on the tips of his toes if someone holds him up a little, so Isaac and Scott help him up the stairs to the guest bedroom and there he lies with Stiles. They cuddle up close, because they’re still afraid they might wake up to find themselves alone, - Derek in a cage, cold and in pain and Stiles fears his head is still not _his_ entirely – and maybe if they grip each other and tangle their limbs together, they might prevent the darkness from finding them, tearing them apart. When they realize how big the space around them is, they call Isaac and Scott in.

“Come here,” Derek almost stops talking when he hears how strained his voice is. “the bed is big enough for all of us and Deaton said I needed pack contact. It can’t hurt.”

Scott is the Alpha now, Derek knows that. He also knows that after all of this, the nogitsune, the rescue, _Stiles_ , Derek is his beta. He’s in this pack. He falls asleep thinking of how good it all feels. Pack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we come to an end. For now. I'm going away for a little bit, but maybe this summer or next fall, I will add some new pieces to this series. But this could be the end. 
> 
> Please tell me how you liked it, whether you read the whole series or if you only read this work, or this chapter, I'd love to hear from you.


End file.
